I joined Instagram in January 2014. My younger brother showed me the ropes. He set me up. It was easy! You just sign up with your Facebook account or your email address. Get the app on your phone. Done.

My name is @themommystories, find me!

The point of Instagram? To share your pictures with those who "follow" you.

I like Instagram because it's a smaller group of people following me and who I follow. You can follow as many people as you want, but for me and many of my mom friends it's about following those I'm closer to, not the random aunt's cousin's boyfriend or every old high school person like on Facebook.

The other thing I LOVE about Instagram is it's a go-to storage place for your pictures. We take a zillion pics of our kids, right? Instagram makes it cool and acceptable to post a zillion of them. Since it's all about photos, not as many commenting or discussions, it's about the images. Taking the same posed pic of your child gets old on there, so you'll often see sweet photos of simple moments... feet swinging from a park swing set, feet jumping in mud puddles, brand new jacket buttons and tiny fingers, ice cream cones, etc.

Also, moms like me are on there showcasing our lives and our blogs. It's a great resource for mothers! I purposely post pictures of disaster areas of my house, messy kitchen sinks and toys all over the floor. My purpose there is just like on this blog - to show the REAL side of being a mom so that others know they aren't alone, we're all kinda crazy in this mom thing together :)

It's a good way to feel less alone, more normal as a mother.Moms post things on Instagram they'd never post on Facebook. Facebook is huge now and lots of viruses, etc. Instagram is a way to sort of keep things closer if you choose to.

The thing I'm not too keen on with Instagram is I haven't figured out a way if after I've allowed someone to follow me, but then I don't want them following me anymore for some reason, I don't know how to make them unfollow me. I haven't figured that out yet, so if you know how please email me!

Overall, YES, you should be an Instagrammer. You should follow me @themommystories where I show tons more than just the blog write-ups. I show you books we get from the library that we love and would be good gifts. I share things I'm grateful about being a mother and with having kids around. I show messy MESSY moments, and then some of my organization tips. It's fun! I promise it's fun.

There are SO many childhood moments I want to capture with my kids, but I don't always have the camera on me (well, most of the time, I do, you know this, but not always). So having Instagram is a great way to upload pics that would otherwise just stay on the phone sitting there for nobody to see.

this momME

I am M-O-M. I started this blog as a gift to two pregnant friends in May 2011... and it's grown into a passion of writing and sharing ideas. I encourage honesty, and love featuring real moms and their stories.